Semiconductor probe with resistive tip and method of fabricating the same, and information recording apparatus, information reproducing apparatus, and information measuring apparatus having the semiconductor probe

Abstract

Provided are a semiconductor probe having a resistive tip, a method of fabricating the semiconductor probe, and a method of recording and reproducing information using the semiconductor probe. The semiconductor probe includes a tip and a cantilever. The tip is doped with first impurities. The cantilever has an end portion on which the tip is positioned. The tip includes a resistive area, and first and second semiconductor electrode areas. The resistive area is positioned at the peak of the tip and lightly doped with second impurities that are different from the first impurities. The first and second semiconductor electrode areas are heavily doped with the second impurities and contact the resistive area.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-25400, filed on May 8, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a high-speed, sensitive semiconductor probe with a resistive tip and a method of fabricating the same, and to an information recording apparatus, an information reproducing apparatus, and an information measuring apparatus having the semiconductor probe.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]As the demand for small-sized products such as portable communication terminals and electronic notes increases, highly-integrated micro nonvolatile recording media are increasingly required. It is not easy to reduce the size of existing hard disks and to highly integrate flash memories. Thus, information storage media and method using a scanning probe have been studied ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a semiconductor probe with a resistive tip that is sensitive to an electric field and a method of manufacturing the same using a self-alignment method. The semiconductor probe includes a tip with a resistive area and first and second semiconductor electrode areas that are heavily doped with different impurities. The resistive area is positioned at the peak of the tip and lightly doped with second impurities that are different from the first impurities. The semiconductor probe can detect an electric field with a minimum electric field that is less than the minimum electric field that can be detected using a MOSFET probe. The present invention also provides an information recording, reproducing, and measuring apparatus for recording, reproducing, and measuring information on a recording medium by detecting an electric field. The semiconductor probe can measure the information by detecting a variation in the resistance of the resistive area due to the electric fields induced by the sample.

Problems solved by technology

It is not easy to reduce the size of existing hard disks and to highly integrate flash memories.

Thus, it is not easy to make probes having a radius of several tens of nanometers into an array form.

However, since the precision of a photolithographic process decreases considerably when a tip is formed to a height of several tens of nanometers, it is difficult to form a source area and a drain area so as to make a short channel.

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